Mathilde Kschessinska’s Followers (3)

Mathilde Kschessinska

Born

in Ligovo, Russian Federation

August 31, 1872

Died

December 07, 1971

Genre

Biography

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Mathilde Kschessinska, Kschessinska also spelled Kshessinska, Russian in full Mathilda-Maria Feliksovna Kshesinskaya (born August 19 [August 31, New Style], 1872, Ligovo, near Peterhof, Russia—died December 7, 1971, Paris, France), prima ballerina assoluta of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the first Russian dancer to master 32 consecutive fouettés en tournant (“whipped turns” done in place and on one leg), a feat previously performed only by Italian dancers and considered in that era the supreme achievement in dance technique.

Kschessinska studied under Christian Johansson and Enrico Cecchetti at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg, graduated in 1890, and joined the Mariinsky Theatre. In 1895 she became prima ballerina assoluta, a ...more